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Impressions:

This series is really quite unsettling. Especially the puzzle with the doll’s eyes, and whether they were blue or red. Episode 6 was just disturbing, with the teacher stabbing her patients… But it was this unsettling feeling that increased my interest in the show. I wish Mikuriya hadn’t concluded it was space/time shifting that had caused the disappearance of the house, as that ruins part of the mystery. I found Naoya’s weak nature less annoying this time, as I have probably gotten more used to his constant please for help from his brother. Overall, the events turned out to be quite interesting, though I still don’t like the character designs.

Episode 5:

As Naoto and Naoya are driving in the car, they have a few flashbacks about when they were young. The first flashback is about Naoto when he was a toddler (I would be surprised he can remember that far back, but considering he has supernatural powers, it might not be that unusual). Naoto had been playing with his toy truck, moving it around with his mind. When his dad arrives home, he notices this and goes to pick the truck up. When he flips it over, he sees that there aren’t any batteries. When he looks at Naoto strangely, he starts crying and deals a blow to his dad with his mind powers, causing him to bleed.

Next flashback, Naoto has grown older now, and Naoya has just been born. The two are stacking blocks in the living room, when the house starts shaking and Naoto realises it’s an earthquake. Naoya falls down, in front of a ledge where a vase is about to fall off. Seeing the danger, Naoto uses his mind to shatter the vase before it hits Naoya. Their mother runs in and starts hugging Naoya, as he is the most vulnerable being a baby. Upon contacting his mother, Naoya starts to self-consciously broadcast his mother’s thoughts to Naoto. This was Naoya’s powers awakening, while the first flashback was of Naoto’s awakening.

Third flashback, Naoto’s father’s former employee, his wife and daughter had come to sell some land Naoto’s father. After he signs the contract, Naoto and Naoya bar the entrance to prevent the former employee from leaving. Naoya touches the former employee’s hand and senses he had been trying to rip his father off. Hearing this, Naoto’s father asks them if he could go over the contract. Of course, the man does not allow it andr tries to get out of the house, only to be stopped and hurt by Naoto. The daughter tries to slap Naoto, only to get a blood nose like her father as well.

As of then, the brothers’ powers and completely awakened, but their parents never looked at them the same way from then on.

As Naoto and Naoya drive pass an old house, they recognise it as the ‘doll house’, and are surprised it is still here after all these years. This leads to the fourth flashback. There had been a girl living in the house who always caught Naoya’s attention. One day, he was able to find enough courage to touch her, and that’s when he finally saw the horrible things she had to deal with in her life. Because of this, Naoya practically loses his mind. Naoto goes to investigate the house, and what he finds inside is a large collection of dolls. Furthermore, he sees the girl’s dad etching holes in her with a fencing foil. Naoto manages to save the girl from further mistreatment, and the father was sent arrested. Bearing the good news, he was able to revive Naoya.

The thing that comes to both Naoto’s and Naoya’s minds is the doll that looked like the girl from the ‘doll house’. Naoto remembers that the doll’s eyes had been red. However, Naoya remembers them as blue, by seeing it through the girl’s mind. They decide to forget this enigma and continue on to see their home. However, when they get there, they find an empty lot. After asking an old local resident, she tells them that the lot had been empty since she was born. For a brief moment, Shouko appears on the empty space, before disappearing again.

Episode 6:

A woman from the institute comes to see Naoto and Naoya. Actually, as she reveals, she had been waiting for them at the empty lot. She tells the Naoto that Mikuriya had told them to find what they have lost by themselves. The woman also has some money for them, but Naoto does not accept it. The woman thrusts it onto him and turns away. Naoto reluctantly accepts it. Before she leaves, she asks Naoto if he can remember her, but she knows he can’t.

Elsewhere, a girl is lying outside on the grass. She complains of life being too unbearable, so to escape from this, takes out her knife and…

As Mikuriya is investigating the girl’s suicide, as well as another two which occurred recently, he receives a call from Naoto. Naoto asks him about the house, Mikuriya tells them time/space must have shifted. He then asks the two whether they know anything about the string of suicides. They don’t but this prompts them to go and investigate. When they visit the grave of the girl who recently died, Naoya concentrates on sensing the mind of the girl so hard that her consciousness overcomes his own. He starts to act as if he wa committing suicide, but Naoto is able to snap him out of it. Naoya tells him he can see the dead girl on the grass (who’s name is Megumi).

The two discuss the deaths and comes up with the probability of them being spiritual. That is when they decide to visit the school. When they get there, they see a sports teacher harassing one of the girls in front of everyone. The students around them start having the same thoughts. This overwhelms Naoya’s senses and he starts breaking down. The sports teacher comes and grabs his hand out of concern. All the teacher’s secrets are revealed to Naoya, including how he spies on the girls as they are changing, rummages through their clothes (for their underwear) and even having sex with another teacher. Naoya tries to get away, but the nurse approaches him and feels his head. The thoughts she gives him are what truly horrifies Naoya.

Afterwards, when Naoya has calmed down, Naoto says they shouldn’t go into largely populated areas like the school, as the amount of negative thoughts would overwhelm Naoya. He is quite perplexed as to why there are so little positive thoughts. When they see a girl walking by, Naoya recognises her as the Megumi’s best friend. She brings them to a warehouse, where she tells them all she knows about the incident. Before long, they are driven out by some of the girl’s other friends. Outside, Naoya concludes the girl doesn’t know anything about her friend’s death. Naoto asks him about what he saw with the nurse earlier. He tells him he had seen her chopping up the students, but isn’t aware of her dark side yet.

Later in the night, Megumi’s best friend starts having hallucinations of going out with her again. Ignoring the fact that Megumi is dead, she accepts these apparitions who lead her out of the house. Or maybe, they aren’t hallucinations and are actually ghosts…No, they seem more like hallucinations.

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